The Jacobite rising of 1745 was the attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for the exiled House of Stuart. The rising occurred during the War of the Austrian Succession when most of the British Army was on the European continent. Charles Edward Stuart, commonly known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie" or "the Young Pretender", sailed to Scotland and raised the Jacobite standard at Glenfinnan in the Scottish Highlands, where he was supported by a gathering of Highland clansmen. The march south began with an initial victory at Prestonpans near Edinburgh. The Jacobite army, now in bold spirits, marched onwards to Carlisle, over the border in England. When it reached Derby, some British divisions were recalled from the Continent and the Jacobite army retreated north to Inverness where the last battle on Scottish soil took place on a nearby moor at Culloden. The Battle of Culloden ended with the final defeat of the Jacobite cause, and with Charles Edward Stuart fleeing with a price on his head, before finally sailing to France.

James Butler, Louis XV's Master of Horse, toured England ostensibly for purchasing bloodstock but in reality to gauge the health of Jacobitism in England.[6] Before he left for England the French king briefed him personally to assure the Tory leaders that all of their demands would be met.[7] In early August Butler arrived in London and met with twenty to thirty members of the Corporation of London and had private talks with Robert Willimot (Lord Mayor and Member for London until 1741), Robert Westley (the next Lord Mayor), George Heathcote (an MP), Edward Gibbon (Member for Southampton), William Benn (a powerful member of the corporation) and Daniel Lambert (a Member for London). He reported back that they showed "great zeal for a revolution".[8] A list of the corporation's members given to Butler showed that out of 236 members, 176 were listed as "Jacobite Patriots" and Butler was also told that the recent loss of Court control of the City of Westminster was due to the Independent Electors' "attachment to their rightful King". John Sample, a spy for Walpole, told the Duke of Newcastle that plans for a French invasion had been orchestrated by Wynn and Sir William Carew disguised as Independent Electors' meetings.[9] Butler attended Lichfield races in September to meet with Wynn and other Jacobites, who were greatly pleased when they learnt that Charles Edward Stuart, James Francis Edward Stuart's eldest son, would lead the invasion. Although not a written agreement, the arrangements were based on James Francis Edward Stuart abdicating the crown to Charles and according to a French source this had been a precondition for French support.[9] Butler returned to France in October and had an audience with Louis XV, who said he was satisfied. The next month Amelot told Sempill officially that Louis XV was resolved to restore the House of Stuart and plans for a French invasion began.[10] The "Declaration of King James" (written by the Tory leaders) was signed by James Francis Edward Stuart on 23 December 1743 and was to be published in the event of a successful French landing.[11] James also signed a separate Declaration for Scotland, denouncing the "pretended union".[12]William Macgregor of Balhaldy gave Charles Edward Stuart in Rome the drafts of these declarations and requested he leave immediately for France in disguise. On 8 February 1744 Charles arrived at Paris and during February and March he was with the French invasion force.[13]

Maurice of Saxony had between 12,000 and 15,000 French troops at Dunkirk ready for a landing in Essex.[6] A declaration was drawn up for Maurice declaring that Louis XV had no territorial designs on England and had imposed no conditions on King James. The rivalry between France and England was due only to the Elector of Hanover and were not in the interests of England. Furthermore, Maurice's troops would be withdrawn as soon as a Stuart restoration occurred and commerce would bring mutual prosperity.[14] However, François de Bussy, a senior clerk in the French Foreign Office, informed the Duke of Newcastle (in a coded message) of the plans in return for £2,000. The message was decoded on 14 February and Bussy had named the Duke of Beaufort, Lord Barrymore, Wynn and Cotton. On 15 February George II told Parliament that a French invasion was planned, helped by "disaffected persons from this country", and the House of Commons passed a loyal address by 287 to 123.[15] On 24 February a storm scattered the French fleet under Admiral de Roquefort and the British fleet under Sir John Norris. That same day arrests of suspected Jacobites took place. The planned invasion was cancelled by the French government.[6] In April Parliament passed an Act outlawing correspondence with James Francis Edward Stuart's sons.[16]

Louis XV of France, 2nd cousin once removed to "Bonnie Prince Charlie" and supporter of the Jacobite cause

In spring 1744 Charles Edward Stuart sent Balhaldy to England on an intelligence mission. Balhaldy reported that the English Tory Jacobites wished for Charles to come as soon as possible. On 24 July Charles wrote to Louis XV, saying he had been informed that England could be retaken without civil war as it was stripped of soldiers.[18] In August he met Murray of Broughton at Tuileries Palace, who told him he would not get the support of more than 4,000 Highlanders and that he must drop his plans to come to Scotland.[17] When Murray said French backing was extremely unlikely given their defensive position in Flanders, Charles replied that he was "determined to come the following summer to Scotland, though with a single footman".[19] In early 1745 the Association wrote that it objected to a Jacobite rising if it was not supported by 6,000 French soldiers, however Lord Linton was unable to find a safe way of transporting the letter to Charles.[17] Charles went to Paris again in defiance of a French government ban of his presence there, determined to go to Scotland to force the French to back him.[13] As Colonel John William O'Sullivan wrote:

The Prince being dissatisfied with the treatment he had from the Court of France, & finding yt the French Ministry had no real design to restablish the King, was resol'd at any reat, to try what his presence cou'd do among his friends at home, without any other succor, & imagening at the same time, if he cou'd come to make a head, & have the least good success or advantage, yt yt wou'd engage the Frinch Court to send him a real succor. John Murray's arrival at Paris confirmed, as it is said, H.R.H.s in this resolution, & assur'd him, as I am told, yt the King's friends wou'd receive him with open Arms; & yt he did not even doubt but they wou'd surprise all the fortes and Castles of Scotland, wch woud procure him armes & ammunition, & by those means wou'd be Mastre of Scotland without being obliged to draw a Sword.[20]

Charles borrowed 40,000 livres from Parisian banker George Walters (who later extended Charles' credit to 120,000) to purchase broadswords.[21] The commander of the Irish Brigade of the French Army, Lord Clare, introduced Charles to Irish shipowners who agreed to help him get to Scotland with money, volunteers and arms. Sir Walter Ruttlidge gave Charles the captured 64-gun British warship Elisabeth, which had on board 100 volunteers from Clare's Regiment of the Irish Brigade, 1,500 muskets and 1,800 broadswords.[22] Charles' ship was to be the 16-gun privateer Du Teillay, which also had on board muskets, swords and 4,000 louis d'or.[23] Charles was accompanied by the "Seven Men of Moidart" on his voyage to Scotland: the banker Aeneas Macdonald; William Murray, Marquis of Tullibardine; Francis Strickland, an Englishman and former tutor to Charles' brother Henry; and four Irishmen: Sir Thomas Sheridan; Reverend George Kelly; Sir John Macdonald; and John William O'Sullivan (Sir John O'Sullivan).[24] Volunteers drawn from the Irish Brigade of France were to form a bridgehead for the main French invasion, but due to the vigilance of the English Channel fleet, only one composite Irish battalion (500 men) landed in Scotland where they fought bravely in the campaign.[22]

The Du Teillay sailed from Nantes on 22 June 1745, meeting the Elisabeth at Brittany on 4 July and then sailing together for Scotland. On 9 July the British 64-gun warship HMS Lion attacked the two ships 100 miles (160 km) off Lizard Point, Cornwall, with the Elisabeth nearly sunk and returning to France. The British officers of the Lion believed that the French ships were bound for North America so did not inform the government. The Du Teillay sailed on and Charles landed on the isle of Eriskay on 23 July.[23]

The British government was unsure of Charles' planned landing. On 5 June Norman MacLeod of Skye wrote to the Scottish Lord President, Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden, to ignore the "extraordinary tale" of Charles coming to the Highlands. On 15 July he wrote again to say that "as I've heard nothing further from any of these places, but peace and quiet, I think you may entirely depend on it, that either there never was such a thing intended, or if there was, that the project is entirely defeated and blown into the air".[25] Aware of rumours of a Jacobite rising, Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the third son of George II involved in fighting on the Continent, wrote to the Duke of Newcastle on 28 July:

I desire you, that if this pretended design of an invasion should continue, to let me come home with whatever troops are thought necessary, for it would be horrid to be employed abroad when my home was in danger, and really, should it be found proper to detach home to England troops sufficient to secure it, there will be none left to save this little scrap of country we still have here, of the Austrian Netherlands.[26]

Newcastle advised Cumberland to request from George II the home command. However, George discounted the Jacobite threat and wanted Cumberland to remain in Flanders and leave the home defence to the 6,000 Dutch soldiers due to Britain from treaty.[27]

The Glenfinnan banner

Charles spent the night on Eriskay and returned to the Du Teillay the next morning. Alexander MacDonald of Boisdale, younger brother of the chief Macdonald of Clanranald, came to visit him. Boisdale was a Jacobite but believed the planned rising had no chance of succeeding and told Charles to return home. Charles replied: "I am come home, sir, and can entertain no notion of returning to the place whence I came. I am persuaded that my faithful Highlanders will stand by me".[28] Charles sailed to the Loch nan Uamh and stayed at the Clanranald farm of Borrodale. On 29 July the Du Teillay crossed the Sound of Arisaig to Forsay, Moidart. Macdonald of Clanranald and MacDonald of Kinlochmoidart visited Charles on the ship to dissuade Charles from going through with the rising. They continued to argue until the younger brother of Kinlochmoidart, Ranald MacDonald, grasped his sword, with Charles asking him when he saw this: "Will you not assist me?" Ranald replied: "I will! I will! though not another man in the Highlands should draw a sword; I am ready to die for you!". Charles responded with tears that he wished all Highlanders were like him.[29] The two chieftains then decided to support Charles.[30] On 11 August the Du Teillay sailed to Glenuig Bay and Charles travelled by land from there to Kinlochmoidart.[31] The contents of the Du Teillay were unloaded, to be transported to the house of MacDonald of Kinlochmoidart. This done, Charles ordered the Du Teillay to sail back to France.[32] On 18 August Charles left Kinlochmoidart and the Clanranald MacDonalds helped transport Charles' stores to Glenfinnan, where Charles planned a meeting of the chiefs of the clans. With a bodyguard of approximately 400, mostly from the Macdonalds of Clanranald and Morar, Charles met the chief of Clan Cameron (who had an escort of 800 Camerons) on 19 August at Glenfinnan. The Jacobite standard was erected, a banner of red silk with a white space in the centre. The Catholic bishop Hugh MacDonald blessed the standard.[33]The Marquis of Tullibardine read aloud the Declaration of King James to the assembled clans, James' commission appointing Charles his Prince Regent, and Charles' manifesto (dated 16 May 1745).[34] In this manifesto, Charles declared he was executing the will of his father in asserting his undoubted right to the throne of his ancestors.[35] After all this the Highlanders "threw their bonnets in the air and huzza'd 3 different times, crying alowd long live K. James the 8, and Charles P. of Wales, prosperity to Scotld and no union".[36]

On 3 August the London Gazette printed the proclamation of the Lords Justices putting a £30,000 bounty on the capture of Charles.[37] On hearing this on 20 August, Charles issued a proclamation against "so insolent an attempt" and offered the same amount of money for the capture of King George II.[38][39] In the end, no one betrayed Charles for the bounty.

On 14 August the British Army sent reinforcements to Fort William. Charles, hearing of this, informed his supporters, and Captain John Sweetenham's sixty soldiers were captured by the MacDonnells of Keppoch. The first engagement between Jacobite and British Army forces took place at Highbridge on 16 August. Captain John Scott was marching his 1st Foot to Fort Augustus when he heard the sound of a bagpipe at Highbridge. A servant and sergeant sent to investigate were quickly captured by the Jacobite forces of Donald MacDonnell of Tirnadris, comprising 11 men and a bagpiper. Scott decided to retreat to Fort Augustus, eighteen miles (29 km) away. The Keppochs arrived, bringing the Jacobite forces to approximately 50, and pursued Scott's force and surrounded it at Laggan. In the ensuing skirmish Scott lost six men before surrendering to Keppoch.[40]

On 31 August George returned to London from Hanover.[41] On 4 September the Duke of Newcastle wrote to the Duke of Cumberland, requesting ten battalions of British soldiers:

Though I have constantly seen the reality and danger of this attempt to invade His Majesty's dominions, I did not imagine that, in so short a time, the Pretender's son, with an army of 3,000 men, would have got between the King's troops and England, and be within a few days' march of Edinburgh, where, some think, we shall soon hear that he is; and that he may attempt to call a Parliament there. Others rather suppose that he will proceed with his army through England, where there are no regular troops to oppose him, 'till he comes towards London.[41]

On 5 September the government declared that the penal laws against Roman Catholics must be enforced.[42]

On 15 September the Jacobite forces reached Edinburgh. On the 17th, after negotiations had failed, the gates of the city were left open and the Jacobites entered: Charles was met by a cheering crowd of 20,000. However, Edinburgh Castle held out against his forces. There are second-hand accounts that while in Edinburgh, Charles touched people suffering "The King's Evil" (scrofula), in one case supposedly curing a child George I had refused to touch, thus winning converts to the Jacobite cause.[43][44] On 18 September, King James VIII was proclaimed as king of Scotland, and Charles as his Regent.[45] Charles held court at Holyrood Palace for five weeks. On 9 October Charles issued a proclamation in response to King George's summoning of Parliament, in which he forbade any of James's Scottish subjects from attending this unlawful "assembly". If they ignored this proclamation they would be "proceeded against as Traitors and Rebels to their King and Country...the pretended Union of these Kingdoms being now at an End".[46]

The French commissioned four privateers to give the Jacobites £5,000 in gold, 2,500 muskets, six light field pieces, and twelve French artillerymen under the supervision of James Grant, a Franco-Scottish lieutenant-colonel, and these arrived at Montrose and Peterhead between 9 and 19 October. The personal representative of King Louis XV, Alexander de Boyer, Marquis d'Eguilles, presented himself at Holyrood on 14 October.[47]

Lieutenant General Sir John Cope, commander of the British Army in Scotland, was in pursuit of Charles. On 20 September Charles put himself at the head of his army, presented his sword, and proclaimed to cheers: "My friends, I have thrown away the scabbard!".[48] He learnt that Cope was in the area of Prestonpans and he instantly set off for what he believed to be a good battle-ground, Falside Hill.[49] The Battle of Prestonpans on 21 September saw the rout of Cope's forces by the Jacobites in a battle that lasted no longer than fifteen minutes.[50] The news of this Jacobite victory reached London on 24 September, bringing with it shockwaves. Charles Yorke was amazed that Charles, despite landing almost alone in a remote corner of Scotland, could have accomplished so much in so short a space of time: "It is indeed a dreadful and amazing consideration to reflect... that a fabric of so much art and cost as the Revolution [of 1688] and its train of consequences, should be in danger of being overwhelmed by the bursting of a cloud, which seemed, at its first gathering, no bigger than a man's hand".[51] It also led to an outbreak of anti-Catholic violence in England: "...the brave ship carpenters of Whitby... being informed that the papists of Egton in the moors made great rejoycings for the defeat of the king's forces... took their axes and cleavers... to hack and hew the said papists in pieces, and were with extreme difficulty brought back to Whitby after they had marched two miles towards their enemies".[52]

By now, Charles had spent the 4,000 louis d'or, and although he possessed Cope's war-chest of £3,000 he needed more money. The Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland had placed all specie in Edinburgh Castle, but the former agreed to honour notes over £3,500 held by Murray of Broughton.[53] Letters were sent to all burghs of Scotland, collectors of land tax (the cess), the collectors and comptrollers of Customs and Excise, and to the factors on forfeited estates, demanding that they "produce their books, and to pay the balances due to them...on pain of being deemed, and treated as rebels". Charles sent a deputation to Glasgow to extract from the city £15,000, but the Whig burgesses negotiated a compromise: Charles received £5,000 in cash and £500 in goods.[54]

A letter to Cumberland dated 19 October informed him that George wished him to return to England. Cumberland was back in London by 28 October, after embarking 25 battalions of infantry, 23 squadrons of cavalry, and four companies of artillery.[55]

At the end of October Colonel John Roy Stuart summoned Allan Ramsay to paint a portrait of Charles, but Charles would not be in Scotland long. On 30 October Charles's Council met and debated whether to invade England. Charles wished to invade England through the north-east. Murray and most of the clan chiefs wished to remain in Scotland to consolidate their position, eliminate government forces, and wait for French assistance. Charles and his supporters believed that their army was made for moving and he believed that only through a conquest of England could he gain the throne of Great Britain for his father.[56] The Council decided by a single vote to advance into England, and Murray persuaded them to invade through the north-west, as French landings on the west coast of England or Wales would assist them.[57] The Jacobite army that left Edinburgh was made up of more than 5,000 foot soldiers and 500 cavalry.[54] This force marched south to Peebles, from where one division marched up the Tweed Valley before turning south into Annandale, while the other marched downstream to the east before turning southwards up the valley of the Teviot, the two divisions combining again near the border with England. The Jacobites received virtually no support from the inhabitants of the Scottish border region, and in Dumfriesshire a pro-Hanoverian militia raided the Jacobite baggage train and captured thirty-four wagons.[58]

On 8 November Charles, with an escort of Lochiel's Camerons and the Hussars, entered England.[59] On 9 November the Hussars sent a captured countryman to Carlisle, ordering that the city provide quarters for 13,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry, failing which it would be burnt. A string of cannon shots came from the city walls and the Hussars retreated.[60] Jacobite forces then besieged Carlisle until it surrendered two days later on the 15th. The defenders of the city concluded there was no hope of defeating the siege when they were informed that Marshal Wade's forces would be unable to help them. (Wade did, in fact, march from Newcastle to Carlisle on the 16th but by then it was too late.)[61] The surrender conditions were that the defenders of Carlisle must agree not to fight against Jacobite forces for one year and that the militia must give up their arms.[62] On the 16th the mayor of Carlisle delivered the keys of the city to Charles at Brampton. On the 18th Charles entered Carlisle on a white charger along with one hundred pipers, with cheering Highlanders lining the streets. Salutes of cannon and muskets accompanied the constant ringing of church bells. The Jacobites extorted 1,500 muskets, 160 barrels of gunpowder, 500 grenades, and about 120 horses from the city. Cumberland believed that "the surrender of Carlisle to the rebels was the source of all the distress this part of the kingdom has felt from them, and of so scandalous a nature that it deserves the strictest enquiry and punishment".[63]

On 23 November Lord Derby abandoned the defence of Manchester. A 300 strong Manchester Regiment was raised in the town. On the 26th the Jacobites entered Preston to cheering crowds (as in Carlisle, these crowds comprised Jacobites from the rebel force, not local people).[13] King James was proclaimed and Charles made a procession through the city to "the loudest acclamation of the people you can imagine".[64]

The Jacobites reached Derby on 4 December. A Council meeting was convened at Exeter House in Derby, where Charles was staying, on the morning of 5 December. Lord George Murray began by arguing for a retreat to Scotland, citing the three British armies in England: Cumberland's, Wade's and an army supposedly north of London. If the Jacobites defeated Cumberland's forces, Murray argued, they would still lose between 1000 and 1500 soldiers which would leave the army unfit for further fighting. If they were defeated in that battle then the militia would pick them off and a retreat to Scotland would be extremely difficult in such circumstances. Charles, after a long pause, spoke on preparations for the next day's marching. Murray interrupted to question the wisdom of marching on. Charles appealed to other officers, who pronounced in favour of Murray. Charles criticised them for giving up guaranteed victory and a Stuart restoration. Murray replied that everyone was in favour of a Stuart restoration and were prepared to die for it, but that all were certain to die if they proceeded.[65]

Lord Elcho and Lord Ogilvy agreed with Murray and declared that the Jacobite army could not defeat two or three armies in succession and therefore it was likely that Charles would be killed or captured. Charles in reply pointed to the favourable strategic position of the Jacobite army and its morale. Moreover, he said the English Jacobites would finally come out in support in the event of a march on London and the French would land in Kent or Essex, citing a letter he received from Lord Drummond demonstrating French support. Murray said Drummond's letter only proved that the French would help the Jacobites in Scotland, not England, and that with Drummond's and Strathallan's armies amounting to the size of the present Jacobite army, it was wise to retreat to Scotland to combine with them. An advance on London could only be successful with English Jacobite support or French support. Charles professed that he believed the English Jacobites would rise but admitted he was not in touch with them. Lord Elcho intervened to say that the Jacobite army marched on England to combine with English Jacobites and the French but that no prominent English support had been given and the common people were antagonistic. Furthermore, the French had not landed and there were two armies between the Jacobites and London. He said the Jacobites came to aid the English sympathisers, not to enthrone a king when they refused to help. Lord Elcho finished by saying he would support a march on London only if Charles had written proof that this was what the English Jacobites had requested. Charles proclaimed that a Jacobite hold on London would cripple the Whig government; Murray responded by saying that relied on the Jacobites winning London.[66] Even if the Jacobites defeated Cumberland, the leftovers of his army would decimate the Jacobite army as they marched to London and would link up with other soldiers in London. A battle-weary Jacobite army would not inspire Jacobite Londoners to come out in support of them with two British armies still in England.

Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland

Charles was supported only by Ranald Clanranald, John O'Sullivan and the Duke of Perth. When Murray of Broughton entered the Council, Charles requested his opinion and Murray pronounced in favour of a retreat. Lord George Murray, Lord Elcho and Lord Ogilvy argued that Londoners would make it hard for the Jacobites to capture the capital and even if they managed to capture it, they themselves would be besieged in turn by Wade and Cumberland's armies. A diversion to Wales, suggested by the Duke of Perth, was also defeated on the grounds that it would be cut off from Scotland. The Council retired until the evening.[67] Charles spent the afternoon visiting the local gentry in order to persuade them to come out in support of him but failed. He managed to persuade the Duke of Perth and the Marquis of Tullibardine to support a march on London.

In the evening Council Lord George Murray set out the most advantageous way to retreat to Scotland. The Duke of Perth disagreed, arguing for an immediate attack on Cumberland, but when Murray of Broughton voiced his agreement he was asked to give this in writing but when he refused he was silenced. Charles pointed out that if the Jacobite army retreated they would be in increased danger due to being in between Wade and Cumberland; however, Wade would not be an immediate danger if they marched on London. This was countered by the clan chiefs Cluny, MacDonald of Keppoch and Cameron of Lochiel who argued that the Jacobites could march faster than Cumberland and could defeat Wade if he attempted to intercept them on the way to Scotland. Then Dudley Bradstreet, an English spy, entered the Council to inform them of (false) new intelligence: that there was another army under the command of either Lieutenant General Hawley or Lieutenant General Ligonier, with 9000 soldiers, who stood between them and London. At this point Charles said: "That fellow will do me more harm than all the Elector's army". Ranald Clanranald and the Marquis of Tullibardine then dropped their support for an advance, leading Charles to say: "You ruin, abandon and betray me if you do not march on". However, he eventually assented to the Council decision to retreat.[68]

Some allege that there was panic in London on 6 December (which day pro-Jacobite commentators sometimes call "Black Friday"). London was "in such an uproar as cannot be expressed, and is scarce to be imagined".[69] According to Jacobite legend Chevalier de Johnstone (a Jacobite officer) had on "good authority", the Duke of Newcastle "remained inaccessible in his own house, the whole of 6 December, weighing up in his mind the part it would be the most prudent for him to take, and even uncertain whether he should not instantly declare himself for the Pretender".[70] However, there is no evidence for this story and records show that Newcastle was that day dictating orders and official letters. Neither was the King ordering a royal yacht in the Thames ready to flee, he was instead preparing to head his troops at Finchley. Stocks fell rapidly but there was no run on the Bank of England as there was after Prestonpans.[71] On 6 December Newcastle wrote to the Lord Mayor telling him of the King's desire for the internal security of London, including encouraging those who volunteered to give armed support. Newcastle also enforced the penal laws against Catholics and declared that Jesuits and other priests were to leave London by 9 December. £100 would be given to those who discovered a priest within 10 miles (16 km) of London from then. A chaplain of the embassy of Portugal was imprisoned at Newgate.[72]